Travels of a Not-So-Lone Wanderer
by NightRider9
Summary: The Lone Wanderer preferred not to travel alone, which is why the name always confused her companion and super mutant friend Fawkes. Just a collection of several major points in the Lone Wanderer's life as told from Fawkes' POV, may turn into more of an actual story later on. Rated T for violence and cursing, but shouldn't be too bad.
1. Prologue: First Meeting

Story Title: Travels of a No-So-Lone Wanderer

Author: NightRider9

Summary: The Lone Wanderer preferred not to travel alone, which is why the name always confused her companion and super mutant friend Fawkes. Just a collection of several major points in the Lone Wanderer's life as told from Fawkes' POV, may turn into more of an actual story later on. Rated T for violence and cursing, but shouldn't be too bad (because I don't really like cursing).

Chapter Title: First Meeting

Note: This chapter is just a general prologue about when Fawkes first meets the Lone Wanderer. It sets up for some of the story that will follow.

* * *

 **Prologue**

First Meeting

" _Cross!"_

 _He jumped, causing the entire room to shake for a moment. Had he just heard what he thought he had? There was another tense moment of silence._

" _Cross, Cross! Answer me! Where are you?"_

 _The shrill cry was unmistakably free of the typical meta human growl and sounded distinctly female. Fawkes was curious and also worried. Something was obviously going on, but he simply thought it was his mind playing tricks on him, a sure sign of the mental degradation he was sure would follow. He watched one of the meta humans charged with guarding the medical bay run by the observation window as another shout echoed through the rusting hallways._

" _Dogmeat! Find Cross! She's got to be here somewhere! I'll hold them off!"_

 _Two more guards made their way to stand outside his cell, conversing in their own special unintelligent meta human speech. He couldn't make out what they were talking about, but every couple of minutes they would cast a glance down the hallway toward the stairs before one left down the opposite hall. And then he heard the most awful sound he could remember hearing._

 _It was a scream and a cry and a name all in one. "CROSS!"_

 _The silence that followed was almost as terrifying as the sound itself. Suddenly he heard weeping, a sound he was actually familiar with from his time in the med bay. He'd heard countless captives cry as they resigned themselves to their fate. But this was a different sound. It was a heart-wrenching cry that echoed through the dilapidated metal hallways, tugging at something in the back of what was left of his FEV mutated mind. It made him more anxious, fearful that he had progressed to hearing things, because no human could possibly have made it this far into the vault._

 _Everything went silent again for a brief moment, then there came the sound of metal scraping on metal and heavy footsteps. The screeching stopped, the footsteps didn't._

 _Suddenly, gunfire erupted around the bend in the hallway, out of his sight. When the sound stopped, the heavy footsteps stomped towards the med bay. One of the guards charged down the hallway, Centaur hobbling along quickly behind. The hallway exploded as they rounded the corner, bits and pieces of flesh and guts and gore painting the walls a sickly red. The Centaur was gone, but the meta human was still standing, barely. While Fawkes watched, it went to raise its gun, but was quickly stopped by another round of gunfire. It lasted only for a moment, long enough to finish the meta human._

 _A figure rounded the corner, thin and small. It definitely wasn't a meta human, the size alone gave it away. But Fawkes still wasn't completely convinced he wasn't seeing things. The figure paused outside the only door he could see from his room, then went inside. A moment later, another creature rounded the bend, much smaller than the first and furry. If he remembered correctly from what he'd read on the terminal, the second creature was a dog. It sat outside the door until the first figure came out._

 _Fawkes quickly stepped over to the intercom. Even if it was just a hallucination, a product of his own imagination, he had to try and reach out. The system was in the corner of the room, next to the window, but still far enough away to hide him from her angle of approach._

" _You… over there," he started before taking a quick check to make sure the figure heard._

 _It had frozen mid-step, about ten feet from his cell. He continued. "Please, come speak to me. I'm in the room to your left. Use the intercom next to the window."_

 _The figure approached cautiously, and he finally identified it as a human female. She was barely out of childhood and was wearing a large metal suit. She froze again when she realized what he was, shock clearly showing across her grimy face. She clutched the thing in her hands a bit tighter; it was a gun. The dog growled at him, sensing its master's fear. After a moment of staring at him, she took a step over toward the intercom, not once taking her eyes off him. "H-Hello?" her voice was shaky, but pleasantly free of the growl he was so used to hearing._

 _Fawkes tried to keep the growl out of his own voice when he next spoke. He didn't want to scare her off and she already looked terrified enough. But his voice was still rough, mostly from his excitement that he wasn't exactly losing his mind and the girl before him was actually stopping to talk to him. "It can't be! Either you are quite real, or I am going quite mad. Could you actually be a pure human?"_

 _Her hand shook as it flew off the intercom button in surprise, but he could hear her even without the electronic device. "Y-yes? I'm human," she replied hesitantly. "But what are you?"_

 _He was taken aback. "Me? You care who I am?"_

 _None of the others had ever asked who he was. Of course, he wasn't sure of_ _exactly_ _who he was, at least not since his mutation. The only thing he remembered was pain, horrible pain, and then nothing except for an immediate dislike of the ways of his brethren. He shook himself out of his thoughts. "Forgive me, but I'm not used to pleasantries. I'm more used to grunts and being struck about by the others. My name's Fawkes. I've lived in this… cage all my life."_

 _Now it was the girl's turn to be taken aback, confusion clouding her features. He understood. None of the others had taken names, which only served to differ him more. But he liked the name, and he'd had plenty of time to decide that it was what he wanted to be called._

" _How… ironic that the others consider you a mutant of their kind," came the voice from the intercom thoughtfully._

" _Yes, indeed it is ironic," he said as he realized this was a human with higher intelligence than he'd ever seen before. Of course, the captives weren't usually focused on intelligent conversations, often reduced to incoherent babbling as they were hauled down the hallway. "Forgive my astonishment, but I hadn't expected to meet someone with such a learned outlook of these things. It is a pleasant change."_

 _He paused, though, as a thought crossed his mind. No human with even the slightest interest of self-preservation would knowingly or willing enter the Vault without desperately wanting something. Something he'd read about when he still had his terminal: the G.E.C.K._

" _I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, though," he continued. "It was only a matter of time before someone like you showed up for the G.E.C.K."_

 _Instantly, her eyes lit up with something. He thought it might be hope. "What do you know about it?" she leaned in closer to the glass, excitement showing through her voice._

 _This was his only chance, he realized. She knew of the G.E.C.K., but didn't know where it was. Otherwise, she probably wouldn't have stuck around to listen to him. "I know what it is, where it is, and best of all, I know how you can get your hands on it."_

 _The dog beside the girl yipped suddenly, and she turned to shush it before it could draw any attention to them. When she turned her attention back to Fawkes, he could see a small shadow of doubt on her face._

" _Why would you help me?" she asked though the intercom, voice low. "How do I know you won't run off or kill me should you get the chance?"_

" _Because you can help me in return."_

 _She stared at him for a long moment, and for the first time, he couldn't read her emotions on her face. Before she could come to any sort of conclusion, he rushed on, hoping to plead his case. "Let me out of this place. I can't take it anymore! I can't even recall how long I've been here."_

 _He didn't realize he was shouting until the girl's eyes grew wide and she backed away from the window a bit. He softened his voice as he continued, "Take me with you, and I'll retrieve the G.E.C.K. for you."_

" _Okay, but why would I have difficulty getting it on my own?" she asked skeptically._

" _The chamber in which it resides is absolutely flooded with radiation. It's unlikely you'd survive very long. Myself, on the other hand, have surprisingly inherited something useful from my fellow meta humans. I am highly resistant to radiation. Let me out of here, and I will place the G.E.C.K. safely in your hands," he finally finished, having laid everything he knew out on the theoretical table for her to examine._

 _A long pause followed. The girl looked at the ground, occasionally running her hand over the top of the dog's head. Fawkes hoped she was seriously considering helping him, so much so that he missed her question._

" _Alright, I'll bite. How do I get you out?"_

 _Excitement grew in his voice as he explained what needed to be done. The maintenance controls were the best way he could figure to open the door, unless the girl standing before him had some sort of uncanny lockpick skill._

" _Oh, a word of warning though. Tripping the console will probably open every door in the medical area and I don't know what is in the other rooms. So, what do you think? Can you do it?"_

 _She nodded. "Okay, Fawkes. You've got a deal."_

" _Glad to see you are a sensible person. Now, please get me out of this place. I can't stand it anymore!"_

" _Be right back!" she told him just before rounding the corner to his left._

 _Now all that was left was the waiting game. And wait he did. So excited was he that he decided to stand next to the door so that the moment the alarm was tripped, he would be free of his prison. But nothing happened. For a long time. Such a long time, in fact, that he was beginning to get worried. Had the girl gone back on their deal? Had some of the other meta humans caught her and put her in one of the other cells? Had she died?_

 _Suddenly, with a soft click and hiss, the door before him opened. As fast as he possibly could, he stepped through it into the hallway, pausing to take a deep breath. It was at that moment that the girl rounded the corner. She drew her weapon upon seeing him, then lowered it slightly as she recognized him._

" _Finally… freedom! True freedom! I cannot thank you enough for this gift. You have no idea how long I've pictured this moment in my mind… and it feels far better than I imagined." Then he realized the alarm was not blaring and there was nothing hot on her trail except her dog. "What happened?"_

" _Turns out there was a different console that I was able to hack to open just your door and the door to cell number 3. But the guy down there is definitely a bit cuckoo for Coco Puffs. And there were several mutants actually in the maintenance room. There was like, three of them and a Centaur!"_

" _Ah, so that was what took you so long. I was beginning to worry. Now for my part of the bargain. Follow me," he told her as he turned and began to make his way up the hallway to his right. She followed, weapon at the ready. He pulled out his own makeshift weapon, a giant sledgehammer he'd cobbled together before he'd been imprisoned._

 _After several moments of tense silence, he asked, "What kind of gun is that?"_

 _She seemed lost in thought, so he asked again. "Huh, oh this? It's a Gauss rifle. Got it out of a supply depot after risking my life for a bunch of ungrateful pricks."_

 _More silence. "I have told you my name, now what may I call you?" he asked as they headed up a flight of stairs._

" _Oh, you can call me… uh… the Lone Wanderer. That's how everybody else recognizes me."_

 _There were a few obstacles up ahead. Namely more meta humans and Centaurs. He could hear them, feel their heavy footsteps in the halls ahead. At least he had the element of surprise. They would probably think-if they were thinking at all- that he was just another grunt bringing a captive._

 _It was several minutes, and several tense moments before they reached the area outside the G.E.C.K. chamber. The Lone Wanderer peered through a window into the corridor and grimaced. So irradiated was it that even the metal walls glowed a bright neon green._

 _She noticed the console next to the door before he did. "Hey, this here says there's an option to purge the radiation from_

 _the area," she told him, then muttered under her breath, "I could have done that and gotten the G.E.C.K. myself."_

 _Before he could respond, she clicked the button. The door hissed softly as it sealed itself. Something in the corridor whirred to life, then stuttered and failed. "Error!" she punched the console. "Magnetic locking system offline? Venting system offline?"_

 _A string of very unlady-like curses followed. So unexpected were they that all Fawkes could do was stand there awkwardly as she pushed every button on the terminal, cursing the entire time. Even her dog whined. In an attempt to escape the increasingly awkward situation, he opened the door and went in search of the G.E.C.K. It was an easy find, exactly where the terminal in his cell had said it would be._

 _By the time he returned, the Lone Wanderer had settled into the far corner. Her back was to the wall, head resting on her knees. Her dog was by her side, and it growled as he approached. Obviously, the creature was very fond of its master._

 _He stopped and took a moment to examine her a bit more closely. She was wearing some sort of metal suit, worn and faded, but obviously still doing its job of protecting her. What exposed skin he could see-mostly her neck and face- was tanned and covered in freckles. A moment later, he tried to clear his throat, in the best way that he could so as not to startle her. Her head immediately shot up, causing a few stray strands of her dark brown hair to come loose of the neat bun it was in and float around her face. Then he noticed her cheeks were wet._

 _She quickly swiped her hand across her eyes in an effort to hide her tears as she stood. He held out the case containing the G.E.C.K. to her, trying to ignore the fact that she had been crying._

" _Well, I'm afraid this is where you and I part company. I'll find my way out of this place, don't worry," he told her. "Maybe we'll meet again somewhere in the Wasteland."_

" _Thanks," she said as she took the G.E.C.K. and gave him a sad smile. "Maybe we will."_

 _Then she turned and dashed out of the room, dog bounding along beside her. Fawkes followed at a much slower pace. He didn't want her to think he was purposely following him. But there was no way out of the front door of the Vault, so the only way out had to be the same way she came in. Through the maze of rusty metal corridors and down a flight of steps. Up ahead was an open room, and she would definitely catch sight of him there. So he stopped at the top of the stairs, just out of sight. He heard the door hiss opened, then her hurried steps echoing in the room._

 _Something clattered to the floor and beeped. "Agh!" the Lone Wanderer cried as she rushed backwards, but apparently not quick enough._

 _There was a bright flash, followed by the sound of somethings soft hitting the ground three times. She groaned in pain and he took a few cautious steps until he could see what was happening. The girl was collapsed on the floor, curled into a ball as she held her hands to the side of her head. Her dog lay a few feet away, closer to the hallway. The door to the right opened and several armed metal men entered the room, surrounding her. She laid on the floor, breathing heavily and obviously in pain, but he couldn't do anything to help her._

 _Against other meta humans with little armor and terrible weapons he was fine, but metal men with shiny glowing weapons were a completely different story. All he could do was watch._

" _Objective is secured sir," one of the men said._

 _Another man entered the room. He didn't wear a shiny suit, but Fawkes could tell he was in no way less dangerous than the others and had much more influence. The man strode over to the Lone Wanderer and knelt down beside her. "Good work, soldier. Make sure the G.E.C.K. is secured aboard my vertibird."_

 _The girl could do nothing but stare up at him, seemingly frozen as the soldier spoke again. The commanding officer interrupted, voice drawling out the words in an accent slightly familiar to Fawkes. "You're certain she's unharmed?"_

" _Yes sir! She'll pass out shortly, but we can revive her once we get back to the base, sir."_

" _Excellent. Prepare her for transport immediately." He stood up and left, leaving the soldiers to scoop the now-unconscious Lone Wanderer up and follow after him._

 _Fawkes did his best impression of a frown as they sealed the door back behind them, leaving the dog. And then he realized that the person that saved him needed his help. He couldn't just leave her to die, he decided, not really deliberating on it much at all. After all, he had a debt to repay._

* * *

Author's Note: Well, thank you for reading my first Fallout fic! I have been toying around with this story for a while, unsure if I should post it or not. I am a big Fallout fan, and always wondered how Fawkes saw some of the events that he and the Lone Wanderer go through.

Some of the events in this story will be familiar, i.e. Point Lookout, Raven Rock, Vault 106, etc. But I also have some original ideas that I will post as well.

Please review and follow the story if you like it. If you really love it, favorite are always appreciated! Also, my inbox is always open, so feel free to drop me a message with concerns, comments, suggestions, or if I have left something out. I try to go back and do my research, but somethings might slip through. Thanks for reading! ~NightRider


	2. Surprise Brain Surgery

_**Disclaimer:**_ _Everything belongs to Bethesda and to the writers and animators and whoever else I may have forgotten to mention. The only things I claim to own are my own characters and the plot of this story._

 _ **Warning:**_ _Obviously major spoilers for certain quests/DLC. Please go play FO3 if you haven't yet. (It is amazing. -NR)_

* * *

Fawkes was still waiting on the dock where the _Duchess Gambit_ left from when the boat rounded the curve in the Potomac on its return trip. Dogmeat eagerly await at his side, barking happily at the sight of the slowly trudging boat that carried his master. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Lynn was returning to the Capital Wasteland.

He glanced at the boat as it approached and noticed that only two figures were on the top deck. One was a woman with flaming red hair, not unlike Moira Brown's, who was standing at the wheel. The other sat on a nearby seat, head propped up by hands resting on their knees. But this person didn't seem to have much hair at all, at least not from his vantage point, and the Lone Wanderer had long brown hair that she usually kept up in a bun. "Wendy the Welder" as she called the style.

The boat pulled up to the dock and the woman at the wheel rushed down the stairs to finish docking. She visibly started when she realized Fawkes was standing at the edge of the dock. "Oh, you must be the one she was talkin' about," she said as she finally regained her composure. "I say she'll need your help to get off, but, honestly, I'm afraid you'd end up sinkin' the _Duchess_. Give me a minute and I'll go get her."

He was quite confused by the strange woman's statements. Did she mean to say that Lynn was somewhere on the boat and somehow unable to leave of her own accord? The woman wrapped a rope around the pier pole and headed back up the stairs. A moment later she returned, this time with the other passenger leaning heavily on her shoulder. As they neared, Fawkes instantly recognized his companion's familiar face and combat armor, but her hair was now cut short in a choppy style and was completely gone on one side of her head.

The pair slowly made their way down the stairs and across the lower deck to the ramp, and as soon as Lynn stepped foot on the dock, Fawkes was by her side. "What happened?" he practically growled, causing the other woman to jump back. "And where is the man who took the boat out?"

The woman inched back until she stood by one of the doors on the deck, the one that was locked when Lynn first arrived. This time, it opened to reveal pieces of a body, probably several days dead. He also noticed jars containing something grey filling the room all around the body. "She sure did get her revenge when she got ahold of him," the woman said proudly.

She then reached into the room and pulled out one of the jars. "Don't know what use she'll have for this but it does belong to her."

He took the jar from her and realized that the object inside was a piece of a brain. He growled again in anger, before he realized that the woman was backing away again. "Sorry," he apologized, trying to keep his growing anger out of his already gruff voice.

Lynn stirred suddenly, her nose wrinkling as a groan of pain escaped her mouth. Fawkes turned his attention back to her and finally noticed a long curving wound on the left side of her head. Dogmeat barked excitedly for a moment, but upon getting no response, he calmed and began sniffing at the pants of Lynn's armored vault suit. Then he whined and poked her hand with his nose, finally drawing a response. She smiled faintly and lifted her hand to gently pat his head.

"Hey guys," she muttered before sighing heavily. "Hope DC wasn't too much to handle while I was gone."

The smile faded as she slumped backwards into Fawkes. He caught her and carefully picked her up.

"You might want to get her to a good doctor. Punga fruit is good for lots of things, but it don't do nothing for someone who just had surprise brain surgery," the captain of the boat told him as she skirted around them and ran into the arms of the older woman standing at the end of the dock.

Immediately, Fawkes was running past them off the dock, trying to think of which doctor would be closest. He wouldn't let the mangy robot at the Citadel near Lynn after the last "incident." Rivet City was the closest, but it would mean wading across the river, and that wouldn't be easy with the dead weight of an entire human being, even one as small as Lynn. That left Underworld's Dr. Barrows. Choice made, he headed in the direction of the tall obelisk that marked the mall, Dogmeat bounding along behind.

* * *

"She should be okay, but she'll need to stay here for a while so I can make sure no infection sets in. The surgery was crude, probably done with rusty instruments and the patch-up job is nothing to be admired. I had to take out the stiches and reopen the wound to make sure everything inside was alright, but I've patched her back up and put some Stimpaks on the area to help it heal up. Snowflake managed to find some hair growth formula, so maybe by the time she wakes up her hair will have mostly grown back. There'll be a nasty scar there and she'll more than likely have headaches for the rest of her life. But at least she's still alive and not mentally incapacitated as far as I can tell."

Fawkes stood next to the bed where Lynn was laying. Dr. Barrows was briefing him on what had happened since they had arrived at Underworld the day before. But, of course, they wouldn't get the full story until the Lone Wanderer woke up, and Dr. Barrows figured that would be awhile yet. They watched as she stirred briefly, muttered something, and stilled again. This had been the routine that had been repeated many times since the doctor had finished his examination. The few times he had been around, Fawkes had managed to catch a couple of her muttered words; "Dad" was the most common, but he'd also heard her whisper "Amata", "Moira", and "Sarah" as well.

It worried him. Lynn already had a terrible time with nightmares plaguing her when she slept, and he worried that it would only get worse after her latest excursion to this Point Lookout.

"Oh," Dr. Barrows interrupted his thoughts. "You might want these. I took them off her when you first got here."

He pointed to a pile of objects in the corner of the medical room. It was a fairly good-sized pile containing everything from Stimpaks to combat armor to even guns. Fawkes looked it over and found several new items he had never seen before. He picked them up and examined them, then set them back down. He didn't really want to move anything. He was afraid he would end up breaking one of the new things she had lugged all the way from the Point, especially after he had accidentally broken one of the guns she had gotten from the Pitt.

* * *

" _What is this?" he asked as they looked through her pile of loot she had collected during her time in the Pitt. Wernher had helped her get it all back to the Capital Wasteland and Fawkes had helped her carry it to Megaton, but the entire time, she had carried a gun that was unfamiliar to him._

" _This," she proudly displayed it in her hands, "is Perforator. I got it from a slaver who sent me out to collect steel ingots from the steel yard. I think this one was for bringing back fifty or so. And I worked my butt off for it. Those damn Trogs sure don't like to give up._

" _Anyway, it's a modded assault rifle that has a scope and some sort of half-way silencer, 'cause it's not really all that silent. Really balanced weapon. Wanna see?"_

 _He nodded and she handed the gun over to him. It definitely wasn't as heavy as the Gatling Laser or super sledge he used in combat, but he also knew she wasn't really able to use either of his weapons of choice simply due to her smaller size. He raised the gun up to look through the scope, but obviously he was holding it wrong._ Snap! _Suddenly the magazine on the bottom snapped off and fell to the floor with a metallic_ clink _._

" _Perforator!" Lynn squealed as he swiftly handed her back the weapon._

 _Shock showed clearly on her face, and he could see her pale even under her tan. Instantly she scooped up the fallen piece and rushed up the stairs, nearly tripping in the process. He didn't follow her, but he heard Wadsworth greet her as she rushed across the catwalk to her workbench, Dogmeat barking frantically as he followed on the heels of his master._

 _The next few hours were tense. Lynn didn't move from the workbench, and every few minutes he could hear something on the bench whir to life. He'd taken a position up in the corner of the main room where he could just barely see her. After what to him seemed like an eternity, the Lone Wanderer stumbled back across the catwalk into her room. He heard the bed creak as she fell onto it, and he finally hurried up the stairs to check on her._

 _Just as he'd though, she was curled up on her bed. Dogmeat was stretched out next to her. Fawkes had just barely stepped into the cramped room when she sighed. "I fixed it."_

" _I'm sorry," he mumbled, which came out more of a defeated growl. "I must have-"_

" _It's fine," she said without turning and looking at him. "It's an older gun, gone through a bunch of stuff, I'm sure. It was bound to break sometime. I'm just glad it was here rather than out in combat."_

 _She yawned then, signaling the end of the conversation for the night. Fawkes backed out of her room and made his way to his own bed in the next room._

" _Good night," he heard her call softly as they both drifted off to sleep._

* * *

"Dad, no!" Lynn screamed as she bolted up right, hands clutching at the dirty sheets of the bed she was laying on.

The sound woke Fawkes and Dogmeat, who had been sleeping in the corner of the room closest to her, and startled Dr. Barrows and Nurse Graves. Instantly a confused look came over the Lone Wanderer's face. "Where am I? Underworld?" she asked after a moment of looking around.

Before Fawkes could even stand up, Dr. Barrows was fussing over his patient, asking her all sorts of questions about how she felt and if her head still hurt. "I think I'm okay," she replied. "Just a little lightheaded is all. And confused. Very, very confused."

"What is the last thing you remember?"

She glanced around the room until her gaze landed on her companions. She smiled and called for Dogmeat, who was instantly running over to his master and jumping up on the bed beside her. As he licked her face, the confused look returned.

"I remember… Grabbing a seed pod from this huge Punga fruit and getting a face full of something…" her voice trailed off as she shuddered. "I think I passed out but I thought it was only for a minute, and suddenly I woke up here. How long _have_ I been here?"

Fawkes could see there was more to the story that she didn't want to talk about with the doctor and nurse there, so he made a mental note to ask her later when they were gone. Dr. Barrows could obviously see there was more too, but he left it alone and answered her question. "You've been unconscious for nearly a week. Your friend here brought you in and said something about 'surprise brain surgery.'

"I'll tell you what I told him. You had quite a nasty head wound when you came in. I ended up having to reopen it and fix whatever had been done. The original surgery was done by someone with no medical expertise. But I think with all the Stimpaks I borrowed from your loot, it has healed up quite nicely."

Fawkes watched Lynn reach up, figuring she was expecting to feel the scar, but instead watched her shock at finding hair over the place where the scar was.

"Ah, yes," the doctor continued. "Snowflake appreciates your continued business and managed to find some old hair regrowth formula that still works. I must say, your hair is coming back in nicely and should be fully grown back out by the time you're ready to leave."

Finally, a smile touched Lynn's lips again as she absentmindedly ran her hand through Dogmeat's fur. "Thanks, doc. Don't know what I would have done without you."

Barrows turned away, muttering as best he could under his breath, "You'd probably be dead."

Suddenly, the doors to The Chop Shop blew open to reveal Tulip. She squealed in joy as she realized Lynn, her self-proclaimed best friend and favorite customer, was finally awake. "You're alive!" Lynn's smile grew as the female ghoul ran over and gave her a tight hug. "Oh my gosh, we thought you were a goner when you first came in!" She motioned toward the still-open door where more of Underworld's residents were peeking into the room.

Lynn gave a little wave to the gathered crowd, who instantly took it as a sign to come in and see how their favorite human was doing. They gathered around the bed, against Dr. Barrows protests, all asking what had happened, and where she had been, and did she have any exciting stories of her adventure to share. The Lone Wanderer waved the questions off, telling them she was fine, but she really did need to rest.

Fawkes looked on as several in the group gave her hugs and told her they were glad she was alright before they left at the doctor's orders. When finally even Tulip was pushed out the door, the doctor and the nurse told him they were taking a break and not to let anyone in to see her. Finally, he had his chance to ask what really happened at Point Lookout.

"I know, I know, you want to hear _exactly_ what happened. Truth be told, there's not much I remember about the actual surgery, although I have some idea. Whatever that Punga fruit sprayed me with really numbed the pain," she said as he stood up.

Her hand went up again to feel what was left of the scar under her hair as her tone turned somber. "I was still in the bog they'd sent me to when I thought I woke up. It only felt like a minute between the time I passed out and the time I woke up on the ground. When I stepped out of the mess of Punga fruits I'd crawled through to get to the 'Mother' plant, something was definitely not right."

She paused and took a breath. "There was a bobblehead right in front of me, just like the Intelligence one I have in Megaton. But this one was bigger. I went over to look at it, and the inscription on the base was just something sarcastic about falling into a trap. And then it just disappeared.

"So I went on. I wasn't sure what was happening, but I kept running across these fake bobbleheads- Shmault Tec, I think was what they said. Nothing else had happened yet, but then suddenly, after the Endurance one disappeared, this huge red bonesaw just appeared out of nowhere, cutting through the ground."

Another breath. "I shot at it, but it didn't do anything. I followed it until it disappeared and found myself back in the bog. There were Quantums in the trees, and they fell as I passed before disappearing in a tiny nuclear explosion with a baby crying sound. Then there were invisible ghouls that attacked me as I tried to grab another bobblehead, so I ran ahead and suddenly the world was upside down." Her words were coming faster now. "So I just kept on running until a needle and thread appeared before me, just sewing up the ground, and there was this awful beeping noise. Then-" her voice caught as she stared straight ahead.

Fawkes stayed silence, waiting for her to regain her composure. He'd only ever seen her get emotional a couple times before, but never like this. But she didn't go back to the stoic-faced wanderer he was familiar with. Her voice was a whisper as she finally continued. "Then I saw a medical table, a gurney. There were balloons all around it and a teddy bear on the table next to a Charisma bobblehead. I walked up to it and there was- there was- a –a skeleton, with my- my mom's name on a necklace around the neck."

A tear trickled down her cheek. "The bobblehead said 'Blech. If my kid looked like that, I'd abandon it too.' And then the beeping froze on one note, and I realized it was a heart monitor like the one that used to be in Dad's office." A sob broke free before she could continue.

"When I couldn't take it anymore, I ran on into the water and I stumbled and fell. And then right there, floating in the water face-down right in front of me was Amata. I went to roll her over and she disappeared, but another body appeared a little farther on. I crawled through the water to it. It was Elder Lyons. And then Tulip and Sarah and Moira. They all disappeared when I tried to help them. Even-" she froze again.

"Even what?" Fawkes finally prompted her. She wouldn't look at him, suddenly burying her head in Dogmeat's scruff. Her words were muffled, and even with his enhanced hearing he could barely make them out. "Even you and Dogmeat were there. Just floating in the water. Dead."

He was a bit taken aback. Did she really care that deeply about him that his death, even in a dream, would hurt her so much? It was a moment more before she could unbury her head and speak again. "Then, when I looked up there was Mr. Burke, leaning on the bomb in Megaton, just in front of me. He was smirking, then he started laughing and saying something about how I would come out of it soon and that everything had gone well. There was a luck bobblehead on the ground and it actually spoke to me. _Spoke._ 'Dead mother, life in a post-nuclear Wasteland, and not a friend in it. Yeah, you're not exactly blessed.' And then the bomb blew."

By this time, tears were streaming down her face, falling to create little damp circles on her vault suit. Dogmeat nuzzled her chin, and she wrapped the mutt in a hug as she once again buried her face in his scruff, sobs shaking her shoulders.

Fawkes was at a loss for words. This was a range of emotion he had never seen from her before, and he wasn't quite sure what to do. He thought back to what she had last said, the words the fake bobblehead had told her.

"You are a very lucky person, very blessed," he said, making her look up at him with red rimmed eyes. "Your mother gave her life so that you might live. She must have known how special you would be. Everyone lives in the Wasteland. It is just our luck of the draw for when we were born. At least we didn't have to live through the Great War itself. You have plenty of friends all over the Wasteland. Look at how the residents here reacted when you woke up. And your own words prove how many friends you have. Tulip, Sarah Lyons, Moira Brown. And you have me and Dogmeat. You are very blessed."

She looked up at him for a moment more, her bottom lip quivering a little. Then she smiled slightly. "Thanks, Fawkes. You're the best."

Before he could respond she had thrown back the covers and practically leaped from the bed to give him a hug. The action shocked him, but he still managed to catch her. There were fresh tears on her cheeks; he could just barely feel them. Then he realized she was laughing. "Well, I'm glad you caught me, because I wasn't exactly sure if I could stand up on my own yet."

Lynn took a shaky step back and fell onto the bed again. Her mouth opened in a huge yawn as she ruffled Dogmeats fur. Then she pulled the covers up and curled up under then, shivering slightly. Her eyes closed, and Fawkes knew she would instantly be asleep. It had been a long week for both of them. But at least his friend was alive and seemingly no worse for wear.

* * *

 _Author's Note: Wow! I have been so overwhelmed by the response I have already gotten from this story so far! I have several "chapters" of this story mostly written out, all I need to do is make a few tweaks and additions and finish a couple of them. I'm going to try for regular updates, but life has a tendency to get in the way with college, homework, Mock Trial, and other things. So I don't make any explicit promises._

 _Also, I understand that not everything in this chapter actually happened in-game (i.e. the bobblehead doesn't actually speak, the necklace on the skeleton). Mostly I do that to add a different effect or to clarify something (I'm pretty sure names don't just randomly appear next to people when you look at them. If they do, I would really like to know how to get in on that so I don't constantly forget peoples' names!)._

 _And, as always: p_ _lease leave a review if you enjoyed the story, and feel free to message me if you have any thoughts/ideas/concerns/etc. I love reading comments and they really give me encouragement to continue writing. Also, thanks again to everyone who has reviewed and followed! ~NightRider_


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